Abstract: Trading and shipping energy commodities is a business that has evolved markedly in the last decade. It is also very different from trading financial derivatives. The range of commodities, participants, and physical infrastructures involved is broad and heterogeneous, compared with more homogenous instruments traded in many of the financial markets. The business model for commodity traders has changed dramatically in the last five to seven years, as companies have invested along the value chain, across geographies, and diversified their product mix.